In The Shadows
by Katia Dashwood
Summary: Lucius meets Narcissa in an alley and receives some shocking news. LMNB


DISCLAIMER: I don't own the world of Harry Potter.

I stood in the shadows, watching Narcissa. _She looks so scared and innocent._ _Innocent. Hah. She lost her innocence a long time ago. She's just standing there, like a frightened butterfly._ I grinned wickedly. _My butterfly. All mine. Mine, mine, mine. _I stepped out of the shadows.

'Narcissa,' I said, charmingly if I do say so myself.

'Why did you want to meet me here, Lucius?' she snapped.

_Touchy today, is she? _I smirked inwardly. She would be melting into my arms in a minute.

'Narcissa, my dear,' I said softly. I ran my knuckles over her cheek in a caress. 'Do you not wish to see me?' She didn't respond at all to my touch, just stood there, unmoving as a brick wall.

'Is something wrong?' I asked, quickly losing patience.

'Yes,' she answered meekly. My eyes narrowed. She was hiding something from me. 'Why did you want to meet me here?' she asked.

I smiled as amorously as I knew how. 'Why, my love, I wanted to see you, nothing more than that.'

She shivered. 'But why _here_? Of all places, why _here_?' She gestured to the dark brick walls and cobblestone sidewalk that formed the alley.

'I like dark alleys' seemed a bit dodgy, so I chose a different route.

'You should know by now that there aren't always reasons for what I do,' I whispered mysteriously in her ear. I rested my hand tenderly on her arm. _Now she should melt_, I thought. But I was wrong – I mean, not wrong – alright, I was wrong. Very wrong.

'Lucius, I don't want to be here,' she said, with a bit of an edge in her voice. She looked up at my face, her eyes filled with half yearning and neediness, half reviling at me. She looked like an angel at that moment. One of the angels who had thrown Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden; a disappointed angel.

_What? Is she going to break up with me, again?_ She looked as if she were bracing herself for a strike from me. _What are you on about, woman? I'm only annoyed at you. And at any rate, I would never hit you…_

'Why?' I asked, looking intently into her eyes. 'You're safe here; you're with me.'

'I – I have to tell you something,' she whispered, glancing away, down at the ground.

_Has that Snape boy been stalking her again? I'll teach him to mess with my girl… Why is she so scared of me? _I lifted her chin up with my fingers.

'What is it, my dear Narcissa?' As I looked inquiringly at her upturned face, a look of utmost terror marred it for a moment. I was most definitely not prepared for what came next.

'I'm pregnant,' she blurted out.

_Damn_, I thought. _My father is going to kill me. 'Do what you like, Lucius,' he always says, 'Do what you like, just understand that there are to be NO CHILDREN OUT OF WEDLOCK! That's my only rule for you.' Damn! _I began shaking, so much that I was sure Narcissa could see it. _I am dead._

'Now, Lucius, it'll be OK. I have it all figured out,' she stammered. 'If we just –'

I lashed out at her, backhanding her across her cheek. I gasped, and looked at her; a bruise was already blossoming on her face. But I couldn't show any emotion, couldn't let her know that I was horrified at my own actions, that I was sorry. I couldn't do that. Not ever.

'You're a dirty little slut,' I sneered. I fled, knowing I could not keep up my façade of not caring with her crying right in front of me.

I glanced back at her, which was a mistake. She had sunk to the ground, sobbing, 'No, no, no, no!' I could not watch any longer. I hardened my heart, and turned away. I would marry her, but I would never show her love, affection, or even kindness.

I knew that I had to go back then, or she would hide herself away, and my life would be ruined by this nasty scandal at an extremely inopportune time. I marched back over to where she was huddled on the ground, robes pooled around her like spilt ink.

'Narcissa, get up,' I sneered.

She only remained on the ground, rocking back and forth like a demented House Elf.

She would never get up if I didn't do something. 'Get up, you silly, little _girl_,' I ordered. She didn't move. 'I said – 'I trained my wand on her. '_Imperio! Stand up._' She lifted to her feet like a marionette. '_Stop crying._' I stopped the curse when she had stopped.

'We shall be married as soon as possible,' I said. It was not a proposal; it was an order. 'No heir of mine shall be born out of wedlock.'

And so, a week later, we were wed.

I do not wish her to be subject to my leering Death Eater cronies, so she remains in her room all day, unless I send for her of course. She is too pure to be trusted with them. Pure. I forget the reason for our expedient marriage. She was with child, our child, a son with the fortune of my amazing good looks; and the misfortune to be my son.

Narcissa doesn't know it, but I sometimes watch her from the corner of her room, hidden between the wardrobe and the wall, under the Disillusionment Charm. She's so gentle with that child, Draco I named him. She will probably be heart broken when he is impressed into the Dark Lord's ranks, which he will undoubtedly be when he comes of age.

_I will love her from the shadows. Someday she'll understand why I'm shutting myself off from her. Someday when I'm dead and gone. When I'm free, so will the truth be_.

FINIS


End file.
